Sheriff's Office dispatcher Becky Coynter told the AP authorities are heading to the site in Deerfield, about 135 miles northwest of Richmond, to search for the downed jet, and that witnesses heard a loud explosion early Wednesday, just before 9 a.m.

According to Coynter, military officials in Washington had told local authorities communications they had lost communication with a jet. Authorities do not know whether anyone was injured.

NBC News has reported the jet was an F-15C fighter that had been en route from Massachusetts to New Orleans when it crashed somewhere in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest.

By using this service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or
otherwise objectionable. Although GovExec.com does not monitor comments posted to this site (and
has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems
to be in violation of this rule.